INVESTORS are gambling on strong numbers from PartyPoker-owner PartyGaming in its eagerly-awaited first quarter statement next week.

Shares rocketed 4.7 per cent last night with a helping hand from brokers at Numis, who raised their price target on the stock.

Vodafone followed PartyGaming up the leaderboard - climbing 3.2 per cent - after more rumours it will sell its lucrative stake in US firm Verizon Wireless.

Rolls-Royce's pension plans helped it climb 2.6 per cent, while cruise liner giant Carnival edged two per cent higher. On the downside, BP saw a 0.4 per cent drop, but Anglo American was the heaviest FTSE 100 faller, dropping 1.1 per cent.

Balfour Beatty rose 1.5 per cent after bagging a 35-year, #559m deal to build a new PFI hospital in Birmingham. Primark-owner Associated British Foods was 0.8 per cent higher ahead of next Wednesday's half-year results, and tech specialist Appian Technology jumped 13 per cent after striking a deal in Canada to supply Mounties with its number-plate-recognition cameras.